Guangzhou (C1 Energy)--Refining margins of major Chinese refiners slightly fell in the past two weeks as prices of most refined oil went down amid the approaching Lunar New Year holiday (22-28 January), according to C1 research.
Based on integrated ex-refinery prices of oil products, the margin for refining Daqing crude was at minus yuan (CNY) 141/tonne (or minus $3.01/bbl), versus minus CNY112/tonne two weeks ago. The gross margin for refining Oman crude was at CNY202/tonne (or $4.29/bbl), down by CNY29/tonne (or $0.62/bbl) from two weeks earlier.
The settlement price of Daqing crude and CFR prices of Oman crude were both unchanged in the period.
In the meantime, ex-refinery prices of gasoil, kerosene and LPG all declined by 3% amid weakening demand before the holiday.
C1 takes the ex-refinery price of 93-Ron gasoline to calculate the refining margin since May 2011 to better reflect the refining margins.
Starting from 21 April, C1 calculated the refining margins of Oman crude on the basis of integrated oil products wholesale prices according to mark-to-market principle, namely using C1assessment for the previous day’s CFR price of Oman crude as feedstock cost instead of mean price of the grade in the previous month, which could better reflect changes in international crude prices.
